Fairytale Fail
by Mister Melancholy
Summary: Young Kaoru thinks that if he kissed a frog, he would meet his one true love – his prince. Hikaru, on the other hand, doesn’t believe in fairytales. HikaKao
1. Chapter 1

**Fairytale Fail**

_Young Kaoru thinks that if he kissed a frog, he would meet his one true love – his prince. Hikaru, on the other hand, doesn't believe in fairytales. HikaKao_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Child of the pure, unclouded brow And dreaming eyes of wonder! Though time be fleet and I and thou Are half a life asunder, Thy loving smile will surely hail The love-gift of a **fairy tale**."_

--

Infantile and curious, eight-year-old Kaoru Hitachiin gazed through his window, his liquid amber eyes gazing at the rose-filled vegetation outside. The young boy was yearning to go outside and dance among the garden in his newly-acquired pink dress (a gift from his fashion designer mother) and act like a princess. Ah, a princess – that was exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. Although, with every princess, there must be a prince, and that was exactly who Kaoru wanted to find: a prince. How exactly should he be lurking around to find a prince, though?

Kaoru didn't know the answer to that question. How _did_ the princesses go about finding a prince? Did one just appear if one yelled, "Oh, prince, where art thou?!"? Did it take patience and a strong relationship? Kaoru wanted to know, and he wanted to know soon; he wanted to know _now_.

Gathering up his frilly skirt, he gracefully walked about, the sound of his high-heel pink glass slippers clicking on the hard floor. He stopped upon his and his twin's book corner, sitting elegantly down on the fuzzy pink rug. His dress floated up to his knees as he sat, the dress deflating back down to cover his knees again. Then, with one quick motion, the red-haired boy grabbed a random book from the bookshelf and flipped through it, his head cocking to the side. The words _princess_ and _frog_ and _prince_ and _happily ever after_ flashed in his mind, making him smile.

The young boy flipped back to the beginning and carefully read through the whole story, giggling at the cute drawings and sighing dreamily at the romantic scenes. He even broke into tears at the ending, even though it did say "happily ever after". Crying had always been, as he thought, a sign of sadness, but now that he had experienced crying without sadness, could it be that you were able to cry without being sad but happy?

Closing the book, he looked at the front and recalled all the important events in the plot of the story. Once, long ago in a far off land, there was a king with three sons – that meant he had three princes at his disposal. The king wants all three of his sons to marry and help his empire's power to increase. After a long wait, with the sons finally being at the age to be married, two out of three sons were engaged to a beautiful and powerful princess each. The other son, though, was never heard of again, or was he?

The third son, the one who hasn't been engaged yet, was walking in the forest one day when he came across an evil witch in the way. Her name was of no importance, but she had evil intentions to do with humans. Noticing that the prince was a human, she got angry and turned him into a frog with her evil spell-casting powers.

The prince, now a frog, had been waiting in the woods for a whole decade, weeping at his miserable curse that was bestowed upon him ("I can't believe that witch, making the prince suffer like that," Kaoru had exclaimed when reading it the first time). One day, though, a fair maiden entered the woods, and the prince fell completely in love with her. The frog stalked her around, but the fair maiden was angry of her new stalker. The prince wouldn't give up, so he kept following her, wishing he was back in his former body.

The frog's persistence tired the maiden, so she decided to give a stern talking to the frog. Although, at their first every glance, she felt love-struck with the frog. It was love at first sight, yes, and it was wonderful. Then–

"The princess kissed the frog, he turned back into a human, they married, and then they lived happily ever after, the end," Hikaru mocked bluntly, snatching the book away from Kaoru's small hands. Kaoru, his mouth opening to protest, was immediately stopped by Hikaru's hefty finger pressed roughly on his lips. "You've been reading this thing for three hours. What's so special about it? It's just a stupid story – a fairytale at that," Hikaru grumbled, sticking out his tongue.

Kaoru stood up, his dress fluttering around him, and pouted, tugging at his older brother's loose shirt. "Hikaru!" Kaoru persisted, trying to muster all his strength into one, forceful tug. "Give it back!"

"Say the magic words," Hikaru teased in a sing-song voice, raising the book into the air. Kaoru had put on his best innocent expression and said "please" in the most polite tone possible, but Hikaru still wouldn't give him back the book. "Oh, wait, sorry, there aren't any magic words because magic is bogus! Fairytales aren't real." Hikaru grimaced and looked down at his brother, blushing at the sight of Kaoru's appearance. His brother was wearing a frilly, lace-infested pink dress, and Kaoru's "hair" was adorned by vast amounts of pearls and a pink bonnet. Kaoru was even wearing earrings with a matching necklace, white gloves with a small ring placed firmly on his wedding finger, and he was wearing lipstick – bright, red lipstick. A normal brother would've laughed if his brother was wearing such things, but Hikaru was different; Hikaru actually thought his brother looked _cute_ and _beautiful_, but he was scared stiff to comment on his brother's appearance, especially because he was teasing him right now.

Feeling a brush crawl up on his chubby cheeks, he turned around to avoid Kaoru's gaze and dropped the book down, secretly watching Kaoru scurry up to the book and pat it down softly. Hikaru rolled his eyes and walked up to his younger brother, helping him up to his feet. Kaoru accepted the hand that was offered and rose, meeting his brother's eyes.

"Hikaru…" Kaoru's delicate and adolescent fingers reached for Hikaru's hair, and after softly brushing Hikaru's bangs out of his eyes, Kaoru's face leaning closer to Hikaru's, Kaoru growled and pulled Hikaru's hair, blowing a puff of breath angrily at Hikaru's face. "That was _not_ nice!" Kaoru huffed up his chest and started kicking at the air aimlessly, flustered. "Even though I'm younger than you, it doesn't mean you have the right to tease me always!"

"Oh, so that's the thanks I get for helping you up?!" Hikaru crossed his arms over his chest and tapped on the floor impatiently. "Um, in the getup you're wearing, who _wouldn't_ feel tempted to tease you? I mean, really," Hikaru half-lied as he rubbed his hair. He stared at his younger brother who was already sitting in front of their huge, glass window, staring dreamily outside. Sighing, Hikaru followed Kaoru and twirled one of Kaoru's lock of hair in his index finger. "Watcha doing now, little miss princess?"

Kaoru slapped Hikaru's finger away from him to Hikaru's utter disappointment, and he pointed towards the garden outside, smiling. "I'm going to kiss a frog so he can turn into my very own prince! I think I might find one in the garden," the younger twin mumbled softly, still smiling.

Hikaru opened his mouth, shocked at Kaoru's statement, but then his shocked face quickly evaporated into an amused face. Hikaru's face bloated up and turned bright pink as he pointed towards his younger brother shakily. "For the love of Buddha," Hikaru squeaked out, his laughing overcoming his whole body, "y-you? Kiss a… f-frog?!" Hikaru burst out into a laughing fit at his own statement, rolling down on the floor. "A-and, oh, the p-poor frog i-i-is gonna-a turn into a-a _prince_?!" Hikaru was already pounding on the floor, his eyes closed as tears rolled down his cheeks. "That i-is j-just rich-ch!"

"Hiiii-_kaaaa_-ruuuu!" Kaoru couldn't help but feel a liquid substance fill the corner of his eyes as he subconsciously opened his mouth, letting out depressing chokes. "Y-you… are… the me-me-meanest br-brother e-ever-r-r!" Kaoru's eyebrows furrowed down and his hands rolled into tiny fists, his feet knocking on the floor furiously. "I hate you!" The piercing voice of Kaoru's rang through Hikaru's ears, making him automatically raise his hands to his ears to partially block out the sound. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

Hikaru had already stopped laughing ever since he saw Kaoru's glittery tears appear, and Hikaru even forgot everything for the moment. All he could think about now was his little baby brother – _his_ Kaoru.

If Kaoru wasn't happy, _Hikaru_ wasn't happy, and that was a fact.

Hikaru inched closer to the raging young boy, only to be hit by the pillows Kaoru grabbed from a corner. Hikaru tried to push all the pillows away, and when Kaoru was finally out of pillows, Hikaru's face brightened at his golden chance to help his younger brother calm down.

When Hikaru was finally at least a few inches away from his brother, Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's tiny wrists and pinned the boy down on the ground, getting his body on top of Kaoru's. Kaoru's fragile body struggled under Hikaru's more matured one, kicking and shrieking mercilessly.

Hikaru hesitated, thinking of a way to calm Kaoru down. "I… Kaoru, I'm sorry." Kaoru was still struggling. Hikaru sighed. "Please stop being mad with me, Kaoru." Kaoru still struggled. "Forgive me?" Kaoru – still struggling. "Just stop already!" No use; Kaoru was still putting up his resistance against Hikaru.

"No no no no no no no no no!" Kaoru, still in his tantrum, kicked his feet up in the air, his glass slippers darting up to the ceiling. It came crashing down onto Hikaru's back, making Hikaru yell in pain, choking. Kaoru, oblivious to Hikaru's agony, still thrashed about.

Finally losing the rest of his patience, Hikaru, quickly rubbing his back to ease the pain, pushed his cheek down on Kaoru's lips, feeling the sticky red lipstick smother onto his cheek. When Kaoru, stunned by Hikaru's action, was finally calm enough, Hikaru got off of him, retreating backwards.

"Sorry… again… for what happened, I guess," Hikaru said quietly, his hands still on his back. He rubbed his finger on his cheek, raising his finger to his mouth, tasting the sweet tang of the lipstick on his tongue, fighting off the blush that was making way to his face.

Kaoru looked at Hikaru and frowned. He wasn't about to be forgiven, no. Who would forgive someone like Hikaru after he had done all that? Sure, they were brothers, but why couldn't they have been nice to each other? Kaoru hadn't done anything wrong, did he? He didn't deserve any of this.

Taking one last look at his older brother, Kaoru gathered up his dress and mumbled something inaudible, running out of the room. Hikaru, taking in the fast event into his head, sprang up to his feet to stop his brother from running off, but he knew he was too late. "Kaoru…." His eyes diverted towards Kaoru's glass slippers, then at their costume closet, and he heaved out a long sigh. He knew he was going to regret this in the future, but as long as Kaoru would forgive him, it would be okay.

Hikaru picked up the glass slippers and carefully placed them onto one of Kaoru's pink pillows, making his way to the costume closet. He sped through the numerous costumes in the walk-in closet and found the costume he was looking for, _plus_ a green amphibian mask.

--

Kaoru's eyes, now red from crying, were darting this way and that, his legs feeling numb after running around in circles. He was in the rose garden, and as happy as he was that he was there, he was still crying; he was still so sad.

The red-head flopped down on the grass, rubbing at his feet. They were bare, but he didn't know why. He was wearing his slippers, right? Maybe… they didn't fit him, so they broke, and that meant… he was an ugly stepsister! Kaoru's throat was filled with a taunting sob as he tried to swallow it back down, resisting to cry this time, but he lost, his eyes beginning to water again. This time, the tears came less and his eyes were starting to sting from dryness. His fantasy, his _fairytale_, was ruined – it was ruined to the point of no return.

Slowly regaining a walking composer, he slowly trotted around the rose with his head down, his bonnet and wig hanging loosely. His back was hunched over, and his arms laid limply by his sides. Kaoru looked like a princess zombie.

Just then, when Kaoru was almost out of the rose garden, he heard a magical sound that gave him hope.

_Riiibbbiiit! Riiibbbiiit! _

Kaoru's eyes sparkled as he turned, awing at the frog who was hopping away from him. Gathering his puny strength, he quickly fixed his bonnet and chase after the frog, yelling "wait, wait, wait!" The frog kept on hopping a few feet away from Kaoru, the frog either too fast for Kaoru or Kaoru was too slow. "Wait!"

The frog was coming to a slow, and Kaoru's side was beginning to ache from the long frog chase. Just as the frog was an inch away, Kaoru huffed up and sped towards the frog, jumping onto it with his arms overstretched. Kaoru opened his eyes to see his hands clamped over something… plastic?

Opening his hands just a crack, he peered through it and saw that the frog was fake; it was just a toy. After all that, his hope was crushed again.

Kaoru wanted to cry again, but he couldn't. He was all out of tears, so he did the next best thing – curl into a fetal position. Kaoru did just that and started closing his eyes, trying to block out his entire surroundings. Although, there was one nagging voice that just wouldn't leave him alone: "Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit" – a false and pathetic impersonation of a frog.

Mumbling in resentment, Kaoru sat upright and looked at the person responsible for the sound. It was Hikaru in a prince costume with a frog mask covering half his face. Kaoru took it as another one of Hikaru's endless mockery for Kaoru's desire of fairytales. "Just leave me alone, Hikaru," Kaoru said tiredly, "I'm not in the mood for this anymore…."

"Ribbit," Hikaru replied hoarsely, frowning. The young boy took the pillow from behind him and showed it to Kaoru as he picked one of the glass slippers up. "Ribbit ribbit!"

Kaoru, dubious of whatever Hikaru was planning on doing, turned around, his cheeks turning red. Hikaru had gone too far to taunting Kaoru! Kaoru just wanted to run away and never see his older brother ever again, but unfortunately, he couldn't; Kaoru's feet were still hurting from the run.

Hikaru kneeled down and placed the pillow next to him, raising one of Kaoru's feet. Kaoru couldn't do anything to stop him, but maybe he didn't want to after Hikaru exclaimed another "ribbit" and slipped the glass slipper onto Kaoru's delicate foot. Kaoru, his remorse gently becoming a sweet emotion, was giggling at the time Hikaru slid on the second slipper. Now Kaoru was a princess – or was he?

"Ribbit," Hikaru said again, crawling up to Kaoru. Kaoru smiled and gave Hikaru a small peck on the lips as the older twin started blushing madly, grabbing at the pillow. He shoved it in front of his face and took a pack of glitter from his belt, sprinkling it all around him and Kaoru. The younger twin giggled at the glitter, but even more so at Hikaru's act. Hikaru was pulling his mask off behind the pillow, throwing it on the ground simultaneously with the pillow. He showed his picture perfect face to Kaoru and said, "Here's your prince, princess Kaoru."

Eyes now full of newfound love for his older brother, Kaoru leapt into Hikaru's arms and clung his own arms around Hikaru's neck, giving Hikaru more pecks on his face. Hikaru was struggling to endure Kaoru's weight, but he managed to stay in that position for the time being.

Finally, with one long kiss on the cheek, Kaoru grinned and buried his head into Hikaru's shoulder. "I wanna marry my prince Hikaru!" Hikaru smiled softly at the statement, moving a hand to ruffle Kaoru's wig.

The plastic frog from before had started hopping again on its own, and the two Hitachiin twins walked out into the sunset with hand in hand, Kaoru's head softly nudging Hikaru's arm. It was a happily ever after...

Until, that is, their parents heard Kaoru's impossible wish: "Me and Hikaru are going to be king and queen and live in a _humongous_ castle in France, and we're going to marry each other and have _babies_!"

Mr. and Mrs. Hitachiin both choked at the young boy's statement. Yes, it was _definitely _a happy ever after _now –_ well, for prince Hikaru and princess Kaoru at least.

--

**A/N: **Yay, the Hitachiin twins as little kids! I was inspired by… my lack of inspiration, if that makes any sense. xP I guess you could say the MM is sorta back, but she's still lacking inspiration to write? Well, I'm still suffering from my infamous writer's breakdown, so my writing style might be weird and confusing for a while. ;-;

Ha-ha, because of this fic, I just thought of another idea. xD Anyway, do any of you guys read the Ouran manga? I do, and I was shocked. Like, seriously. I'm actually not very fond of the Ouran manga (don't kill me D:), but one of the pages caught my eyes, and I was all like, "Oh my God, it's my dream come true... almost!" **_WARNING SPOILER: _**Kaoru kissed Hikaru's… _cheek_, lol! xD I dunno if it was just my imagination or something; I'm going to have to look at it again. But… it was so close! I wanted Kaoru to kiss Hikaru on the lips! Dx


	2. Lights On, Lights Off

**Lights On, Lights Off**

_Kaoru can't sleep in the dark, but Hikaru can't sleep with any light, so they either have to choose lights on, lights off, or separate rooms. implied HikaKao_

A blanket of shadows covered the five-year-old red-heads heavily as one of them, eyes fully open, tried to shut them, but couldn't. He was the one who was scared of the dark; he was the one who couldn't sleep without a night light; he was the one who suffered from fatigue every morning because of lack of sleep. He was Kaoru Hitachiin, aka "the twin who's pretty much scared of everything."

It wasn't true, of course, but sometimes Kaoru found himself getting scared at almost everything – well, only if Hikaru wasn't there with him. The only exception was when they were asleep, because Hikaru wasn't awake. Other than being a scaredy cat, Kaoru was a big worrier too. If Hikaru wasn't awake, who would save him from the monsters and his nightmares?

Curling up in a tight ball, Kaoru subconsciously inched closer to his older brother and moaned, "Hika… Hii-_kaa_-ruu…." Kaoru raised a finger and started poking Hikaru's cheeks, still moaning the subject's name. "Hikaru…!"

A slight growl escaped Hikaru's lips, followed shortly after by a short moan, then the older twin's eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting the same amber eyes. "What is it, Kaoru?"

"Kaoru is scared." Kaoru began shuddering under his thick blanket as he felt a pair of thin arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to Hikaru's face. Hikaru buried his face in Kaoru's hair and sighed.

"I'll turn on the night light," Hikaru said bravely. He really didn't like having the night light on, because even a tiny speck of light would make him stay awake. Although, he was thinking for Kaoru's sake. He was the older brother after all.

Hikaru crawled off of bed lazily with Kaoru clinging to his arm, whimpering that he couldn't see anything. Hikaru, trying to endure having to walk around in the darkness with his night-vision still developing, fumbled over their scattered toys, telling Kaoru at the same time to be careful. Hikaru's arms stretched and felt everything all around him, trying to find a particular shape. Once Hikaru's hands felt a glossy, smooth texture and s small knob (most likely the switch), he grabbed it and examined it. By that time, his night-vision had developed for him to be able to see. It was the night light – the gift Hikaru gave Kaoru on the day Kaoru confessed his fear of the darkness. They haven't used it for quite some time, mostly because it was Hikaru who would be up every morning in a disorientated and grumpy mood, bags under his childish eyes, and a paler face. It was a much worse case than Kaoru's fatigue look, so their mother decided to stop them from using the night light.

Hikaru walked over to the plug, wrapping his free arm around Kaoru's waist protectively, telling him to watch his step again. Then, Hikaru plugged the night light into the socket and flicked on the switch, a faint but noticeable light emitting. Kaoru's face brightened as he hugged Hikaru, thanking him gleefully but quietly. Hikaru pecked Kaoru's forehead and picked him up, the crushing weight of Kaoru's equally heavy body making his arms go numb, and walked back over to their bed, placing his younger brother gently onto the left side of the bed. The two exchanged "good night's" as Kaoru's eyes immediately fell asleep. Hikaru crawled onto the bed and started massaging his temple, gazing at his ceiling. He knew it was going to be a very long night.

Hikaru's bloodshot eyes wavered over to his brother's sleeping face as he looked at their digital clock. It read seven o'clock exactly in the morning.

With an irritated groan, Hikaru slid off of the bed, careful not to wake up his younger brother, and walked to the kitchen. He saw his mother already in her business outfit, spreading layers and layers of make-up on her face. Once she noticed Hikaru's small body attempting to climb up his favorite high chair, she stopped patting on her blush and curiously looked at her son.

"Hikaru, where's Kaoru? Isn't he usually the first one up?" Yuzuha mused, puffing out her hair. She picked up her cherry red lipstick and started smearing it roughly on her already red lips, puckering them in front of the mirror. "Hey, hey, don't strain yourself."

Hikaru grumbled, "I'm not," and started climbing on the high chair again, his eleventh try being successful. "Bacon and eggs, over easy, with toast, OJ, local newspaper, now." Hikaru's expression softened when he heard tiny footsteps behind him, turning his head around to look at a groggily-eyed Kaoru. He was yawning and had a stuffed cow (Ushi-chan) dangling in his small hands. The younger of the twins looked up at Hikaru and frowned. "Hika looks sleepy still."

Yuzuha stopped applying her lipstick and stared at her eldest son, her face beginning to wrinkle up from her scowl. "Hikaru! What did I tell you about the night light? You never listen, do you? Never never never." Yuzuha placed her hand mirror on the table and walked over to Kaoru, picking him up. Kaoru squealed in joy when Yuzuha brought him up in the air, telling him to spread his wings. "Kaoru takes tons of naps anyway, and you don't. Do you know what that might do to your health? From now on, it's either lights on and Hikaru can sleep, lights off and Kaoru can sleep, or you both sleep in separate rooms, alright?" Kaoru's happy squealing stopped abruptly. Hikaru chocked on his bacon.

"W-what? That's not fair!" Hikaru exclaimed angrily, rushing towards his mother. Kaoru struggled in Yuzuha's grasp as she sighed and brought him back down, watching as her two sons hugged each other. Hikaru glared at his mother and said, "I'm going to protect Kaoru no matter what!"

"Yes, and you can protect him while sleeping in your own bed." Yuzuha sighed and dabbed two more layers of blush onto her cheeks, picking up her brown designer Louis Vuitton purse, the sound of her high heels dragging quickly on the glass floor. When she reached for the door knob, she turned around and stepped outside simultaneously, waving goodbye to her two sons. "Tell me your decision when I come home, okay? Love you!"

"Hika?" Kaoru's innocent eyes fixed on Hikaru's annoyed face as he brushed his hands under Hikaru's bangs, sweeping them to the side gently. "What are Hika and Kaoru going to do?" The younger twin gave his Ushi-chan a tight squeeze as he said, "Kaoru thinks Hika and Kaoru should sleep with light off. Kaoru will try to be brave." A grin was firmly placed on Kaoru's face as Hikaru tousled around with his hair, pouting.

"No way! I won't be able to sleep if I start worrying about you, so we'll both be restless. I think the better decision is to help me practice sleeping in the light. Really, Kaoru, how do you do it?"

Kaoru cocked his head to the side slightly and placed his index finger under his chin as in indication he was thinking. Then, when his eyes turned wide, he smiled and grabbed Hikaru by the wrist. "Naps made Kaoru like the light. Light makes Kaoru feel safe."

Kaoru dragged his older twin to their nursery station and took out two sleeping bags, placing them close by each other. Kaoru took over the green one and ordered Hikaru to sleep in the red one. Hikaru sighed; he couldn't refuse his younger twin.

Raising the blanket over his neck, he watched as Kaoru squirmed in the sleeping bag to find a comfortable position, holding Ushi-chan close to his chest. Hikaru closed his eyes shut and saw red flashing about, making his eyes burst open. He saw Kaoru frowning, handing him his stuffed cow.

Hikaru accepted the cow and hugged it, closed his eyes again, but the heat from the light made Hikaru's eyes jolt open again as he sighed disappointedly, giving Ushi-chan back. "I can't," Hikaru stated bluntly, "I can't sleep with any light. It annoys me."

"Oh." Kaoru's eyes darted around as an idea flashed through his mind, making him smile. "Kaoru thinks Kaoru can help Hika."

Yuzuha entered her mansion and walked up to the twin's room, checking her watch worriedly. She had stayed at work for two hours longer, and she was sure worrying about her sons.

Opening the door to the twin's room, she stepped inside – careful not to step on any of their toys – and smiled when she saw Hikaru and Kaoru hugging each other. The glint of the night light was still visible, but Hikaru was wearing a sleep mask.

Pecking her two sons on their heads, she slowly crept back out of the room, saying to herself, "I better buy Seiryō a sleep mask…."

**A/N:** Reupload.


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